You Wouldn't Know
by minamikorea
Summary: When Prussia decided to take in a defeated Holy Rome to heal their common loneliness, he didn't expect it to turn into something larger and more complicated. His seemingly minor commitment would force him to make a decision that could change the course of history. Character death- or not, because, after all, who knows? Based on the HRE/Germany headcanon.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, guys! Thanks for reading this, whether you accidentally clicked on this or not... I guess I need to explain some backstory about this fanfic, don't I? So, this fanfic revolves around the "HRE = Germany" headcanon. Since Prussia took care of/raised both HRE and Germany, it would make sense that he would know something about them that no one else did. Maybe he didn't even tell anyone that the two nations were the same person...**

 **Anyway, that's a mini-explanation of this fanfic's plot. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this!**

 **Disclaimer: Hetalia doesn't belong to me...**

* * *

When the young boy walked- no, _limped_ \- into the room, it became a little quieter.

Only Bavaria had noticed, though, as the sound of laughing and clinking beer mugs was much louder than usual. Today was Prussia's birthday, or rather, _half_ -birthday. As soon as the nation had entered the meeting room, he had broken out the beer for no good reason, and then, well, _this._

Bavaria peered closer at the boy, his eyes widening. As soon as he recognized who it was, he stood up, slammed his (empty) beer mug on the table, and shouted, "Quiet down! I think someone's here!"

No one listened to him, so he lifted his mug a few inches above the table and dropped it, sending a vibration through the thick, mahogany-colored wood. "DO PLEASE SHUT UP, YOU BEER-GUZZLING _DUMMKÖPFE!_ " All the commotion in the room came to a halt. Well, _almost_ all of it, anyway.

"Jeez, Bava... you could have asked a bit more politely," Prussia mocked, rolling his eyes playfully. "Or do you not have the mental capacity to do so?" He ran his hands through his white-blond hair. "What'd you start yelling about, anyway?" As his red eyes scanned the room, he noticed the boy standing next to the door. "Hey, are you one of us nations, or something? Who are you?"

"I'm Holy Rome, a nation. Actually, I'm an empire..." the boy replied in a clipped, tired tone. "or, I _used_ to be, anyway. I'm not so 'holy' anymore, I guess."

Then, he seemed to almost collapse, until Bavaria rushed to lead him over to an empty chair at the table. "Sit down. I don't think you're feeling well, and you're certainly not in a state to be wandering around yourself...". Bavaria could be quite protective and caring at times. It was a rare side of him, one that Prussia usually liked to make fun of.

But Prussia didn't seem to care too much about Bavaria's sudden change of tone, and instead focused his attention on Holy Rome. "Sooo... where'd you come from? Why're you here? Are you hurt or something?"

Noting this last question, Austria sighed, setting down his ever-present cup of coffee. "You really are an idiot. Of course he's hurt! He's limping, for heaven's sake, and there are bandages all over his body! Can your brain not process that correctly?"

Prussia smirked. "Ha, at least I don't suck at battle like you do! I'm too awesome, kesese!"

"Why are you talking about that irrelevant topic, of all things? We have more important matters at hand here!", Bavaria scolded. "Come on, Prussia, be serious for once... _oh_."

He looked down at Holy Rome, who had fainted during the Germanic brothers' argument.

"You should take him to Hungary," Austria suggested, watching as Bavaria- and Prussia, for some unknown reason- scooped up the unconscious Holy Rome and began to carry him out the meeting-room door.

* * *

When Holy Rome woke up, he found two- no, three, faces staring down at him, each displaying a wildly different emotion than the others.

He began to sit up, slowly, and found that he was in a bedroom of sorts, probably in that weird Germanic house he had stumbled into earlier that day.

"No, no, don't sit up!", a female voice whispered. "You fainted..." Her face looked quite worried, and her long brown hair dangled right above Holy Rome's face. It swayed slightly as she talked to him, so he focused his eyes on it. "You should rest, so that you can get better soon!" Why did she look so... familiar?

 _Whatever._

He shifted and turned in his bed, finally drifting off to sleep again.

* * *

"Aww, come on! I didn't get a chance to talk to him!", Prussia complained, lightly jabbing Bavaria with his elbow.

"In case you didn't hear, you sausage-brain, he needs to rest!" Hungary lifted her frying pan and waved it threateningly at the white-haired nation. "I haven't had to use this in a while, but I can, if you force me to!"

"I wanted to ask him stuff, though... like where he came from, and why he's here, and how he got hur-"

"Hey, we should probably leave Hungary alone to take care of Holy Rome. You're certainly not helping, Pru...", Bavaria interrupted. Prussia, of course didn't give a single crap about this comment, and simply ignored it.

"Nah, I'm going to stay until he wakes up," he said, gesturing toward the sleeping boy. "I wanna know more about him-"

"Oh, fine!" Hungary grumbled, exasperated. "I've known Holy Rome for a long time, so I'll tell you what I know about him. But... when I'm done, you guys have to leave!" She glared at Prussia, who smiled smugly at her, completely nonchalant.

"Sounds fine to me."

"Well, fine. Remember when I was married to Austria? Actually, he had a few colonies, I guess, including Holy Rome and Italy- the younger one. We all lived together, so it was really fun."

"Go on," Bavaria prodded when Hungary drifted off into a dreamy silence. He nudged her gently. "If you want Prussia to leave, then you should probably continue the story..." Prussia started to protest to Bavaria's statement, but he stopped when Hungary started to talk again, waving her hands wildly as she went.

"So, Holy Rome- oh, he was so cute back then!- thought that Italy was a girl, so he had a crush on him, and Italy..."

* * *

In the midst of his sleep, Holy Rome had heard a name, one that he hadn't heard in a long time.

 _Italy._

Something about that name stirred deep inside him. Something, what was it? Then he remembered.

Before the war.

Hurried goodbyes.

A deck brush.

And... a _kiss_?

* * *

"So, Holy Rome had to go off to war, and he fought France and a bunch of other nations. I think it was called the Thirty Years' War- anyway, I hadn't heard about him since then, other than the news that he was defeated and pretty hurt. But hey, that's what I know." Hungary looked directly into a pair of piercing red eyes. "You can leave now. We had a deal."

No. Prussia didn't want to leave. He wanted something else.

"Let me take Holy Rome to my house. I'll take care of him."

The scary thing was, he looked dead serious.

* * *

 **(Translation: _DUMMKÖPFE =_ "dumbheads" in German...) **

**So, did you like it? If you'd like, please review. If you don't want to, it's okay! I'm just happy someone actually read this~ Thank you very much for reading, I'll try to have the next chapter out shortly! :)))**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay! Second chapter is done, whew! Thanks for continuing to read... it means a lot to me. Oh, and this chapter is a bit shorter than the first one. _Grazie_ for reading, and review if you'd like!**

* * *

"Let me take Holy Rome to my house. I'll take care of him."

Hungary looked at Prussia in surprise. "You're joking, right?" She began to impatiently twirl a strand of her long brown hair around one of her fingers. "I hope you are..."

Bavaria seemed to be in just as much shock as Hungary. "Come on, Prussia, we really should go, now's not the time to be joking about things like that-" he briefly stopped to look at Prussia, who stared back at him with serious eyes. "And anyway, you don't even have time to take care of Holy Rome."

Prussia internally groaned. No one ever trusted him with anything, even when he meant what he said.

This was one of those times. Again.

Prussia had sensed something from the young boy. Something... familiar. It seemed like, well...

Loneliness.

* * *

Prussia definitely knew what it was like to be lonely.

For one, when Hungary left him to go stay with that prissy Austria.

Or when he saw other nations with their friends, their allies, during the holidays.

Who did he have? Old Fritz, and... well... France, Spain...

Honestly, he had attacked and fought so many of the nations in Europe that barely any nations really wanted to be associated with him back then, much less be actual friends.

At least he had his brothers. And his citizens.

Still, he wanted a friend, or at least a companion, like himself- a nation. Someone who he could talk to freely.

 _Someone who would understand._

* * *

Even while he was asleep, a lonely aura emanated from the boy.

Prussia could sense it. He could sense the boy's pain, not just physically, but emotionally.

That was when he had decided to take in Holy Rome and care for him.

He didn't want the young (former, perhaps?) nation to become like him, lonely and hollow, acting obnoxiously happy just to hide his true feelings.

Now his only obstacle was convincing Hungary- and Bavaria- that he could take care of Holy Rome.

* * *

Prussia explained all this- most of it, anyway- to Hungary and Bavaria, who stared at him with unbelieving, flat eyes. Who was this nation and where had his naturally bothersome personality gone?

"Heck no," Hungary started. "For one, you don't even know how to take care of yourself, so how will you care for a sick child?"

"Aww, come on, Hungary, I'm here and I'm healthy, aren't I?", Prussia retorted. He sighed, shaking his head. _Why was this so damn frustrating?_

Hungary leaned back, surprised. She hadn't expected Prussia to be so... committed to this crazy idea. Prussia continued speaking.

"Look, I know I don't have the best relationship with you and Austria, but that can't possibly be the only reason you're so hesitant to let me do this. Do you not trust me or something? I've known you for a long time, Hungary, and your belief in me can't possibly be nonexistent. Please, let me take him to my house- I'll do everything possible to keep him safe! You wouldn't understand, you don't know what it's like to live without another nation, do you?"

Hungary frowned. "Listen, I do know what it's like to be lonely. I just can't see why you'd want a young boy, of all people, to keep you company. He's sick, too- it's not like he's-"

"Hungary... I've got a compromise," Bavaria interjected. "Why don't you take care of him until you're sure he's in a good condition to at least get out of bed, and then you can let Prussia take care of him. It's a good deal for everybody, I believe. Stop arguing, already!"

Prussia looked at Bavaria gratefully. For once, his rare 'parent-like' attitude was pretty helpful.

"Umm... fine," Hungary said. Her disagreeable, stubborn mood was beginning to wear out. "But, I'm coming over to your house to check every once in a while, and you'd better not neglect him, either! I'll, um, send someone over with Holy Rome when he's feeling somewhat better."

"It shouldn't take long," Bavaria observed. "I think that all he needs at this point is to stay in bed for a while."

Prussia grinned, satisfied. Although he didn't want it to become too obvious, he was deliriously happy that someone had actually listened to his request.

"Thank you, thank you, _danke_!"

 _"Bitte schön."_

* * *

 **Translation: German, of course. " _danke_ " = thank you, " _bitte_** ** _schön_ "** **= here you are/you're welcome.**

 **Haha, short and sweet! This was actually a pretty important chapter, though. I hope you liked it... :D**

 **I love Prussia's serious side. :)))**

 **Please do let me know if there're any historical inaccuracies/conflicts with canon in my story. Writing about real historical events is pretty challenging, there's lots of research involved... ㅠ-ㅠ**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello from the author, and thank you to those who are still reading! I hope you enjoy this chapter. It was pretty hard for me to write... but okay! Happy reading (I hope)!**

* * *

A few days later, Hungary visited Prussia's house, leading a certain blond-haired boy by the hand. As she knocked on the polished wooden door, she whispered a quiet prayer to herself.

 _Please, please, don't let Holy Rome... die._

She knew something that she hadn't told anyone else:

Holy Rome would most likely die soon. A nation couldn't survive long without land- or people- to represent. Because the Holy Roman Empire had been defeated, it would dissolve. With it, the personification of Holy Rome would disappear, too, over time.

And she didn't know whether to tell Prussia or not. Too late, though. The door flew open, and he stepped out onto the porch, smiling. "Finally!"

Hungary smiled, unsure of exactly what she was doing. "Does your boss know about, um, Holy Rome?"

Prussia hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, yeah. He said that, as long as it won't be too much of a bother- which it is definitely not- it's all good with him."

"Are you sure you're capable of this...?"

"Yes, why, I am completely capable of this," Prussia stated. He seemed unusually serious, so Hungary stared at him for a while before handing him a wrapped package.

"Here're some extra clothes, some food, and other stuff. You know, for Holy Rome. I'm guessing you know how to take care of injuries- but who knows- so there's a first aid kit in there as well."

"Well... thank you? It's nice of you to do this- even though I do totally know how to care for others." Prussia scratched his head, a faint grin on his face. "Say hi to Austria for me, will ya? Okay, thanks, I'll take it from here. See you soon, I guess." Prussia began to close the door, leading Holy Rome into his house, but Hungary quickly stopped it from closing.

"Prussia, I need to talk to you for a second. Go show Holy Rome to his room, I'll meet you down here- it won't take long."

The albino nation turned around for a moment, flashed a quick smile. "I'll be down soon."

* * *

Holy Rome started up the stairs. Honestly, he didn't really care about having to move once again- worse things had happened to him before, why bother?

He had only gotten up to about halfway up the staircase when an annoyingly enthusiastic nation had rushed to catch up with him.

"Hey, Holy Rome!", Prussia chattered. "Remember me? I'm Prussia, and you'll be living here with me from now on!" He led Holy Rome to a relatively plain room and gestured to it wildly. "This is your room."

Holy Rome nodded absentmindedly, wondering who else had ever set foot in the room where'd he'd stay. He looked over at Prussia, who suddenly looked quite uncomfortable. "Okay," he mumbled.

"Well...", Prussia began, setting the package he had been holding onto the bed. "I have to go check on something downstairs. Go ahead and settle in- I'll be right back." With this, the older nation ran out of the room.

"This guy," Holy Rome thought to himself, gazing in the direction where Prussia had gone, "Is he always this energetic?" It was sort of bothersome.

It was only as he sat down on the bed that Holy Rome fully realized the situation he was in.

 _So... this is my home from now on,_ _huh?_

* * *

Prussia sprinted down the stairs, nearly slipping on the way.

Hungary was there, waiting for him. She was still outside, on the porch. "You're back."

"Yeah," Prussia panted. "You should come in. It's pretty cold outside." He opened the door wider to allow Hungary to step inside. She did so, gratefully.

"Do you want to sit down or something?"

"No, I'm fine- I'll only be a minute," Hungary replied. She hesitated for a moment before she spoke. "Prussia, I have bad news."

"What is it?" Prussia asked jokingly. "Your frying pan broke again?" He tried to act jovial, but as soon as he noticed the look in Hungary's eyes, he stopped. "No, really- what is it?"

Hungary looked down, playing with a button on her coat. "Should I tell him?", she asked herself, but she already knew the answer. Before she could change her mind, she forced herself to speak as quickly as she could. "Holy Rome might die."

The words' effect on Prussia was immediate. "What?" he gasped. "I-I didn't know his injuries were that harsh!"

Hungary wanted to roll her eyes, but she couldn't. Not in this situation. "No, it's not that. It's just..." She looked at her feel while she spoke. "Do you know how us nations survive? We need citizens, a leader, land to lead. without any of those, _we can't survive!_ " She looked up at Prussia to see if he understood. "And, um, Holy Rome- he's lost all of that."

Prussia paced back and forth, staring at his own feel intently. "Wait, wait, this- this can't be right! I'm sure there's something we can do to help him-"

"No," Hungary interrupted. "Even if we try to help him, it probably won't work. Even if there's lots of lasting patriotism in his country, Holy Rome is a nation! He needs more than that to survive! And without that he will just fade away!" With her desperation, Hungary's voice had gotten louder, and hot tears of frustration (at herself) rose to her eyes.

The other nation stared right at Hungary. His voice seemed weaker- his usually proud, arrogant tone had disappeared. "There's nothing we can't do?"

She nodded defeatedly and continued to talk, this time in a quieter tone of voice. "There's nothing we can do. You know we don't have much power over our government and people anyway. Unless our bosses want to take the time to understand all of this- which they probably _won't_ \- we can't change anything!" She glanced at Prussia.

The normally indefatigable albino seemed dejected. He sighed, then turned to go back upstairs. "Thank you for letting me know, Hungary... see you later."

Hungary nodded and closed the door behind her as she stepped back outside into the blustery cold.

* * *

Prussia jogged upstairs halfheartedly. "Act happy," he told himself. "Don't be a downer."He forced himself to smile brightly as he entered Holy Rome's room. "How're you settling in, Holy Rome?"

There was no reply, only a slight movement from the lump under the bed's covers.

Prussia cautiously tiptoed to the bed's side and gently prodded the lump. "He's fine," he told himself. "Relax." So, he forced himself to tiptoe back to the doorway, whisper a faint "Good night" and go back downstairs.

* * *

 **As always, I hope you enjoyed it! Next chapter will hopefully be up soon!**


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